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NBA Playoff picture, standings: Will Mavs, Kings or Suns avoid Play-In Tournament in West?

Jeremy Cluff, Arizona Republic
·3 min read

The NBA wanted to create some more excitement for the NBA Playoffs when it introduced the NBA Play-In Tournament.

The excitement for the 2024 Western Conference play-in games for the NBA postseason could be through the roof.

Entering Saturday's games, the Phoenix Suns are in position to play the Sacramento Kings in the first NBA Play-In Tournament game in the conference, with the Suns 1.5 games behind the Dallas Mavericks for the No. 6 and final NBA Playoffs seed out of the tournament.

The Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors are currently slotted to play in the second play-in game in the Western Conference.

The winner of the first play-in game earns the No. 7 seed in the playoffs, with the loser of that game taking on the winner of the second game for the conference's No. 8 and final postseason seed.

The star power, drama and potential ratings for those three games has to have NBA executives giddy (although they would no doubt love to see the Suns, Lakers and Warriors all in the regular NBA Playoffs for the ratings throughout at least a whole series).

Here's where things stand in the Western Conference NBA Playoff picture entering games on March 30, with teams having under 10 regular season games remaining.

The NBA Play-In tournament is scheduled to begin April 16, with the first round of the NBA Playoffs scheduled to start on April 20.

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Oklahoma City Thunder guard Isaiah Joe (11) defends a drive by Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) during the first half at Paycom Center.
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Isaiah Joe (11) defends a drive by Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) during the first half at Paycom Center.

NBA Playoff picture: Western Conference standings

  1. Minnesota Timberwolves (51-22)

  2. Oklahoma City Thunder (51-22)

  3. Denver Nuggets (51-23)

  4. LA Clippers (46-27) 5 games back

  5. New Orleans Pelicans (45-28) 6 games back

  6. Dallas Mavericks (44-29) 7 games back

  7. Phoenix Suns (43-31) 8.5 games back

  8. Sacramento Kings (42-31) 9 games back

  9. Los Angeles Lakers (41-33) 10.5 games back

  10. Golden State Warriors (39-34) 12 games back

  11. Houston Rockets (38-35) 13 games back

  12. Utah Jazz (29-45) 22.5 games back

  13. Memphis Grizzlies (24-49) 27 games back

  14. Portland Trail Blazers (19-55) 32.5 games back

  15. San Antonio Spurs (18-56) 33.5 games back

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NBA Playoff picture: Western Conference matchups (if postseason began today)

  • No. 1 Minnesota Timberwolves vs. winner of No. 8 seed play-in

  • No. 2 Oklahoma City Thunder vs. winner of No. 7 seed play-in

  • No. 3 Denver Nuggets vs. No. 6 Dallas Mavericks

  • No. 4 LA Clippers vs. No. 5 New Orleans Pelicans

NBA Playoff picture: Western Conference Play-In Tournament (if postseason began today)

  • No. 7 Phoenix Suns vs. No. 8 Sacramento Kings

The winner of the game advances as the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference playoffs, while the loser plays the winner of the Los Angeles Lakers vs. Golden State Warriors game for the No. 8 seed.

  • No. 9 Los Angeles Lakers vs. No. 10 Golden State Warriors

The winner advances to an elimination game vs. the loser of the Kings vs. Suns game for the No. 8 seed in Western Conference playoffs, while the loser is eliminated.

Saturday's NBA schedule (all times Pacific)

  • Celtics at Pelicans, 2 p.m.

  • Grizzlies at Magic, 4 p.m.

  • Bucks at Hawks, 4:30 p.m.

Reach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: NBA Playoff picture: Western Conference postseason standings heat up